Cutting springs??

[JcsMP3]

Ok well I know this is always refered to as a ghetto mod or cheap mod or something anyways. My friend has cut his springs on his Focus ZX3 and they perform better then the Eibach Pro kits as he had those on prior to cutting his springs.

I am just wondering if anyone is game enough to tell me if they did cut their springs as I am thinking about doing it myself. How many links have you cut and how is the ride? I know not to cut them with a torche as the heat will change something but I will do it with a saws all.

I just want to lower my car by .5 inches or there abouts. I know the spring rate is high enough to support losing 1 or 2 rings.

Please try and not flame me for this.

Thanks

Jc

 

[big_ben]

I wouldn't do it if I were you. I just think cutting springs is stupid. I think you'd be better off buying coilovers or something. Or just ride around with a bunch of fat people in your car.

 

[C Rae]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
DO NOT CUT YOUR SPRINGS.
you'll kill your kidneys for one
and i'm not sure but i think i f's up your
wheel travel,
yeah man go and get coil overs and sell the stock set up to a es owner.

 

[LinuxRacr]

Do you really want to have to re-seat the suckers everytime you get your tires rotated?

 

[cfbjr]

It's possible that your friend had the wrong spring rate when he bought the Eibachs for his Focus. When he cut his springs he possibly stumbled into the correct rate for more stiffness for the Focus. Something tells me he probably guessed at what spring rate he wanted to go to in order to improve the suspension by increasing the stiffness. Removing coils from a spring can increase the spring rate of a spring if it is measured in pound per inch of spring deflection. There's an equation to figure this out:

pounds per inch of spring deflection = torsional modulus of elasticity x (diameter of spring wire)to the 4th power / 8 x number of coils x (diameter of spring coil)to the 3rd power

Good luck with that. Cutting springs will require that you are going for a particular rate and that you know the beginning rate that you have to start with. You have to be very exact about how you cut the spring and about how you measure so make sure you do the same thing all the way around, this is very hard to do without the correct tools.
The other problem you have with cutting coils off a spring is that springs are designed to be closed ended so they seat properly
at the top and bottom. Cutting the spring will ruin the ability of the spring to do this properly. This can be especially critical under harsh driving conditions which can be assumed since you are trying to achieve better performance from your suspension.

The question you should ask yourself is what is it that you don't like about the ride you currently have. Is there too much body roll? Is there too much understeer? too much oversteer? Is it too soft or too harsh? Not enough lateral grip?
Start with a problem then do things to fix that problem. Cutting the springs is almost never the answer to that problem.
It's very possible that whatever the problem is can be solved by playing with tire pressure or changing the tires to a different compound or design. Or maybe by adding or removing a sway or strut bar. Or adding some camber adjustment. Or possible changing the springs to a different spring rate or changing the shocks. But changing springs is better done by buying a set of springs with a specific rate that is manufatured to strict tolerances that is designed and built to properly fit in your vehicle. Or getting some sort of adjustable set up like the ground controls which allow you to play with the rates.
If you're just going for "look" then cut away! Just don't expect better performance. Remember that MP3 suspensions have been dialed in pretty good from the factory and the shock/spring combo was evaluated by factory engineers to work properly and with higher performance.

 

[JcsMP3]

Thanks

WOW that's the best response I have seen on this site for awhile now. That was jsut amazing....

After reading that I have decided not to cut my springs. I have always told my friends that my car handled nicely... so why should I screw it up...

Thanks for making me think twice...

Jc

 

[big_ben]

Another satisfied customer!

 

[cfbjr]

Re: Thanks

After reading that I have decided not to cut my springs. I have always told my friends that my car handled nicely... so why should I screw it up...

Thanks for making me think twice...

Jc

Now make the Focus guy think twice... Go out to an autocross in your area and beat him.

 

[spoolinmp3]

Damn I love this forum!!

 

[Korey Chaos]

Cutting your springs is the one of the worst things u can do to your car. And if u try to trade in your car with cut springs, u wont get alot for it. Kind of a pointless post but it does make sense right?

 

[LinuxRacr]

I saw this guy once with cut springs on his truck. Every bump and hump he hit, he almost shook to pieces! Me an my Dad almost wrecked laughing as this guy was going over the Rail Road Tracks!

 

[Sir Nuke]

Plain and simple...cutting springs is NOT the right way to do it....and when you cut corners like this....you will end up paying MORE later to get it done right...not to mention possibly repair any damage done along the way.

 

[ChopstickHero]

Please try and not flame me for this.

hahah... i'll try not to .... but don't cut them!
your friend must be on crack thinking that cut springs perform better than eibachs!
stock springs have about 6 coils and eibachs have about 10 coils.

so if you cut stock springs, you'll be left with 4 or 5 coils ... which is alot weaker than 6! and obviously alot weaker than eibachs!

think logically...... if cut springs DID perform better than eibachs, don't you think EVERYBODY would be cutting their springs?!